Currently there are deadly civil wars raging throughout the country of Syria with no one solution to the problem. Syrian leader Assad has used chemical weapons over the course of these wars, which has led to discussion of possible military action from other countries.
To be fair, a lot of people worldwide are making Syrian civil wars a major priority, but the issue in the United States is examined very differently than it is in major global news outlets.
Syria in US-based News: CNN
This CNN video is from November 1 and details some of the present issues in the country. However, while Syria is the first issue mentioned, it is given only a minute of coverage in a ten-minute long video that covers everything from airline regulations to daylight savings time.
On the "World News" section of CNN's website (shown above in a screenshot), there is no mention of Syria whatsoever, even if you scroll down the entire page. Instead, the webpage is taken up by a variety of catchy headlines and entertainment news, such as "Do you know your sharks?" and "Doctor gives free surgeries". To find any information about Syria, it becomes necessary to search "syria" on the website and sift through the 11,975 results for recent and relevant articles.
Syria in Global News: Al Jazeera
In contrast to the brief mentions of Syria on CNN, the global news outlet Al Jazeera not only publishes constantly updated news on the Syrian conflict and chemical weapons issue, but also created a separate news section for Syria, shown above. Articles covering such issues as the rising death rate of journalists in Syria (17 have died in the Syrian conflict in 2013 alone) and potential peace conferences, as well as more in-depth niche interest pieces such as religious minorities in the civil war. Al Jazeera doesn't just have articles about the myriad of issues in Syria, the news outlet has made strides towards entirely complete coverage so detailed as to merit a separate section that even has its own stylized header.
Comparison
The CNN website demonstrates a common principle in news media that seems to be especially present in the United States- news as entertainment and entertainment as news. We in America constantly demand more from our news. We don't want long articles, we want short, concise lists. We don't want to read anything at all, we want a video to talk to us. We don't want the video to talk for too long, we want a new topic every minute or two. We don't want just a talking video, we want an entertaining video. The cycle goes on and on, and as an American-based corporation, CNN dutifully fulfills the wishes of its consumers by featuring those news items that have the highest entertainment value and the greatest likelihood of being clicked on and shared around the web..
Al Jazeera uses some of these techniques, but its primary form of news distribution is traditional, long form articles. This may very well be on its way out of fashion and Al Jazeera is likely to follow this trend, but its current coverage is very different than CNN's. Short videos are included occasionally in news coverage, but they are almost exclusively news anchors and lack the pizzazz of other news outlets. Instead, visual elements are used to great effect in terms of dymanic pictures and news articles are comprehensive and well-researched. There is little to no element of "infotainment", which helps to emphasize the serious and dire nature of many of the news items that are discussed in the articles.
Sources
Saving Syria: Assessing Options for Regime Change
CNN Student News
Syria: Too Dangerous to Cover?
The Scramble for Geneva II
Syria's Minorities: Caught in the Middle?
Privacy and Attention Span
C
You have certainly made a great point. The average American consumer does value infotainment above long, detailed articles. In addition, I think it has even more to do with the perception of Syria as a foreign entity. Coverage of the conflict is lacking because it is not close to home. We are concerned about our own war - the war that gets ratings - more than a conflict "somewhere in Europe." Globalization calls the U.S. to comment on the issue, but the longstanding ethnocentrism in America belittles the issue to one minute. That is why global news like Al Jazeera is so important. It informs us of events happening outside of our borders' gate-keeping to allow for a broader coverage of the world that can be most fervently seen through the internet.
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised and a bit disappointed to see the results of this comparison. It is clear that American news objectives are different that a more global source like Al Jazeera. I agree with Amy that the American coverage is too far from home for us to appreciate the seriousness of it.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't think that excuses us. The reason the CNN articles focus on pizazz-y, "fluffy" topics is that they sell. Fun articles get click-throughs, re-tweets and shares. That is no fault of CNN, but of their audience. Each of us is completely capable of changing this trend by reading the long articles and searching for news stories, a power that many do not realize that they have. Before we are quick to judge the news outlets, it is critical to examine ourselves and how we personally are impacting the trends (instead of only how they impact us).
I would also be curious to learn the target demographics of the two news sources. Perhaps CNN's site aims at a younger generation while Al Jazeera may focus on an older one? That data may explain the differences a bit, or just re-prove Caitlin's point.